Warming up in Dallas, TX

[Luu Mac]

Hi everyone-- My name is Luu Mac. I grew up in Dallas, went to college in Austin for architecture, and returned to Dallas to work in the industry for a couple of years. I spent some time in Durham, NC for a residency during my final year of college, where I started reading books on finance and real estate (most notably: Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller) to educate myself after work. It was then that I realized I should be investing in real estate to make my own design dreams come true. 

I bought my first property as soon as I could after graduating. I purchased a condo later on to do Airbnb hosting. It was wildly successful but I ran afoul of the HOA. Lesson learned: read the governing docs before buying a condo. I sold the condo and purchased a duplex. One half is rented to a long-term tenant, while the other half is rented via Airbnb. It has some nice zoning, so I'm hoping to acquire the adjacent lots and eventually develop something.

I left the corporate world in 2016 to invest full-time. The first fix-and-flip that I attempted totally flopped. I had to turn it into an Airbnb to cover the holding costs. I made plenty of mistakes on it (including some that I had read about already!) but it has taught me a lot. Better to make them now when the figures are smaller.

I've decided to focus on expanding my Airbnb business and acquiring more rentals in a focused area. Recently, my friend purchased a property near mine and is having me manage the Airbnb. It's led me to start figuring out how to scale (such as hiring a maid and using a laundry service).

My first property was a stroke of luck and is now going through a 1031 exchange (another first!). Hopefully it goes smoothly.

How'd I end up here? I heard about BiggerPockets years ago but it was until I started listening to the podcast recently that I realized I should probably be involved in this community.

Cheers,

Luu